


The Butterfly Effect

by mukkiebee



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Other, TW: Death mention, TW: Kidnapping, tw: torture eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-01 03:48:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12147966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mukkiebee/pseuds/mukkiebee





	1. The Cause

Keith drew in a breath, letting it out slowly to expel his stress. Something about today was different, he could feel it. Today was going to be special. The world seemed brighter, it even smelt nicer than it usually did. He wondered if today was the day he’d be promoted from barista to manager - though he doubted it. He still felt giddy, enough so that he was going to hurry to work so he could see what was causing him to feel so… excited for the day. He rushed through his morning routine in record time, and burst out the door with an air of positivity that he hadn’t felt in a long time. He walked through the busy streets, waving to strangers who happened to look his way. Though he felt positive about the day, Keith had underlying worries that this wouldn’t be a good day after all. He often felt these bursts of happiness, though they were less noticeable, and he usually didn’t interact with others outside of his inner circle of friends. Whenever he felt good about himself, there would always be something to take it away from him. This time was different, he felt it.

As Keith waved to another stranger who looked his way, he bumped into someone. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” He said sincerely, frowning as he helped the frail woman up. She had to be nearly 80, if not 90. Her skin was dull, grey and muted - her hair didn’t give away her age as it was a shade of brownish green. The really striking thing about her was her eyes - they were a shade of orange, a color that no human had. Keith felt a shiver go down his spine. Something was off about this woman. Nonetheless, he brushed it off. “I’m sorry again,” he said, steadying her with his hands.

Her voice startled Keith, he had been expecting a voice worn with age, but instead he was greeted with a raspy voice, one from years of over or under use. “That’s okay deary, just watch where you’re going next time,” she tutted, smiling at Keith. Her smile was missing a few teeth, but such was to be expected from a woman who appeared as if she would keel over any second.

“Of course, I’m sorry again,” Keith said, smiling warmly at the woman in front of him before he continued on his journey to work. He glanced back and felt a chill go down his spine when his eyes met hers again. They were very off-putting. As he turned away, he felt a sudden need to run away, to get away from her as fast and soon as possible. He felt confused, and suppressed the urge to break into a run, instead he just began walking faster. Coffee Ta Cream was just ahead, he could see the coffee cup statue from here. Once at the doors, he glanced back and shivered once more before pushing the door open and venturing inside. He took a deep breath, and smiled. Ah, his home away from home.

“Good morning, Mr. Kogane,” a voice from the far end of the shop spoke. Keith turned towards Willow.

“Hello, Mr. Hart,” Keith said in return, feigning seriousness. “How was your day off?” He said after a beat, letting an easy smile take over his features.

Willow laughed, “It was great! I spent the day running experiments on the hypothesis I told you about on Tuesday!” He said, taking down a few chairs from a table.

“That’s great! How’d it go?” Keith asked, grinning at him.

Willow walked towards the kitchens so he could begin baking the pastries that would be needed later in the day, “It went great!” He exclaimed excitedly, “My hypothesis was correct, and I couldn’t be happier about it! This weekend Felix is coming over so I can show him the finished product!”

Keith smiled, opening the register as Willow spoke excitedly about his boyfriend coming over this weekend. Willow often talked about the things he did in ‘hypothesis’ and ‘theory’ type of terminology. Sometimes he would actually be doing an experiment for his university classes, but most of the time Willow would refer to trivial things as experiments. Yesterday’s experiment, Keith remembered, was to see if his ‘theory’ about being able to work on his personal projects better if he talked to Felix while doing so. Which apparently worked, Keith thought fondly about his friend. “I’m glad,” he said, once Willow finished speaking. “What project are you working on now?” He questioned, organizing everything. He checked the time, 7:55 am. Five minutes until they opened.

“It’s just something for Felix and I to do when he comes over this weekend. I’ve almost finished it. It’s a little cubby in my home - in the loft!” Willow explained, obviously letting his thoughts be spoken without filter. “It’s big enough for five people comfortably, but I mostly built it for Felix and I,” he said, rummaging through the cupboards in the kitchens until he found what he was looking for.

“Well, that’s exciting,” Keith said, smiling softly. He walked to the door, yelling to Willow, “Opening time!” Just as he said that, their other co-worker - Nova - walked through the back entrance made for employees.

“Sorry I’m late! Homework had me up until two this morning,” Nova said apologetically, hanging up his coat. It was mid-October, it was nearing Keith’s birthday now that he thought about it.

“It’s alright, just clock in before the clock turns to 8, or before Mrs. Mortenson gets here!” Willow responded. Keith smiled, and turned over the sign to read ‘Hello, we’re open!’ He walked back to the register to wait for the first customers to come trickling in. Nova soon joined him, while Willow stayed in the back. Nova was also a barista, and Willow was a baker. The three of them were usually the ones working, occasionally they would be joined by Nevaeh or Javier, but they worked part time, and mostly when Keith, Nova, or Willow couldn’t make it. Paula was the owner of the little shop in Shakopee, she stopped in periodically to make sure they were running it correctly - today was one of those days. Caspian was the store manager, though he didn’t come in as often as he should. Today - because Paula was coming - Keith knew that Caspian would be coming in.

The day went on as normal, customers would come and go, Keith and Nova would chat to the usuals, and Willow would occasionally come into the front area to help them take orders as the day began to get busier. As Keith finished two orders, he turned to call the names that the coffees belonged to. “Mary! Maryll!” He called, looking at the cups.

What should have been a simple order suddenly got complicated as Keith slowly realized he got the orders mixed up. Mary had been fine with it, telling Keith that it was a nice change and that maybe she would begin getting it more, and continued on her way. An acceptable response to a mix up. Maryll, on the other hand, had blown up.

“I’m sor - ma’am please,” Keith said, attempting to calm the angered customer. The other customers in the shop were already staring, causing Keith’s anxiety to spike. His breathing became labored, and he tried desperately to calm the customer, “I’m sorry! I can offer you a coffee on the hou -”

Maryll didn’t let Keith finished, apparently done with him. “I want to speak to the manager,” she sneered at the black haired male. Keith looked towards the door leading to the kitchens. Was Caspian even here yet? Just as he thought his name, Caspian appeared through the door.

“What seems to be the problem, ma’am?” Caspian asked, letting his hand rest on Keith’s back soothingly. Keith felt the knot of anxiety lessen slightly, but he still felt like he was going to throw up any second.

“What seems to be the problem? Your incompetent employee fucked up my order!” Maryll spat angrily, glaring at the offending barista. Keith hid slightly behind Caspian, hoping he would be able to calm the angry customer.

“From what I heard, he offered to replace your coffee for free,” Caspian spoke with an air of confidence that made Keith jealous. He was okay with confrontations - as long as he wasn’t the one that was part of the reason. He could do it for a friend, but not for himself. “Which, by our rules, is what he was supposed to do. You seem to be causing the problem,” he commented, watching as the woman seemed to get bigger and redder.

“I seem to be causing the problem?” Maryll asked angrily, “Your whole establishment is the problem, I’m never coming back here again. Such rude employees,” she snapped before storming out of the shop.

Keith immediately felt guilty, “I’m sorry I lost a cust -”

“Don’t apologize for her, there was nothing you could have done,” Caspian smiled at Keith kindly, “don’t dwell on this, please.”

Keith nodded hesitantly, remembering what he felt this morning. He tried to call on that feeling, and it seemed to work. For the rest of the day, Keith was smiling, even when Mrs. Mortenson came to inspect their work. Sometimes the smile felt like it was slipping, but everytime he felt like that, Nova would crack a joke, and the smile would come back in full force.

Once Keith’s shift ended at four in the afternoon, he clocked out and began the long walk to Kohl’s - where his second job was. This one he only worked on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 5PM to 10PM. Today was Friday, but he had been called into work for an employee who had gone home sick. Keith was okay with it - he just had to call his roommate to make sure that he knew Keith wouldn’t be home until later.

As Keith was searching through his phone for ‘Finny’, he hadn’t stopped walking. Normally people would move out of the way for a teenager who was on his or her phone. Apparently not the person he had ran into, causing his phone to fly out of his hands. “Oh heck,” he gasped, watching it fall. His attention was soon taken by who he had ran into. “You again? I’m so sorry! I should really be paying attention to where I’m walking! Honestly, I have the worst luck,” he said, helping the old lady up. He was surprised to see her again - with her strange hair and eyes. He noticed something different this time around, there seemed to be an air of death around her. Not that things were dying around her - it just smelt disgusting. Nothing like how someone would expect an old lady to smell.

“Yes you do,” She said, her eyes crinkling at the sides. “It’s alright, deary,” her voice still sent chills down his spine, but he put on a brave face. He didn’t want to seem rude, even though he had ran into this lady twice now in one day.

“If you stop by Coffee Ta Cream tomorrow I’ll give you something on the house, okay?” Keith promised, smiling sweetly at the older woman. He knelt down, picking up his phone - thankfully it was still intact. “I’m so sorry that I ran into you again,” he said, looking at the woman. He hoped he conveyed sincerity. It was absurd that he had somehow ran into the same woman twice. He still felt just as uncomfortable with her; she gave off a vibe that she wasn’t what she seemed to be. Keith didn’t know how else to describe it.

“I’ll have to take you up on that offer,” The woman spoke, smiling at Keith. Her smile made him feel even more unsettled. Chills ran up his spine at the sight of her crooked and yellow teeth. The one tooth that stood out, even when her mouth was shut, threw him off still.

“Have a good night, ma’am,” Keith said, and quickly moved on. He wanted to get away from her as fast as possible. He turned towards Kohl’s, and began his fast pace walk away from the older woman. He lifted his phone to his ear after dialing his roommate’s number. “Hey, Javier. I have a shift at Kohl’s, so don’t expect me home until later tonight.”

“Shit, okay. That’s fine, I was gonna make a big supper, but that can wait for tomorrow. See ya, Keith!” Click.

Keith shook his head fondly, and walked into the store. He headed straight for the employee break room to begin his shift.

Later that night, Keith is found walking home in the dark. As the sun disappeared behind the horizon, the temperature dropped. Keith shivered slightly, he would never get used to how cold it got during this time of year. He had never been a fan of the cold nor the dark, so he walked quickly through the empty streets, attempting to get home faster. Something about tonight was off, and not in the good way like this morning. Though, that feeling had been proven wrong as nothing important had seemed to happen. The light just in front of him was flickering erratically, making Keith feel even more uneasy as he walked through the streets.

Periodically, Keith would look behind him to make sure he wasn’t being followed. It was like every time he did so, whatever he felt was following him was just out of sight. He swallowed thickly, and began to walk faster. It seemed no matter how fast he was going, the feeling wouldn’t go away. It only seemed to grow as tried to get home sooner. He couldn’t remember a walk home at night taking this long ever, he wasn’t one to be scared of the dark, but something about tonight seemed more creepy.

It happened too fast for Keith to comprehend much - but what he could comprehend was a hand over his mouth and nose. He tried to scream, and kick but the hold slid down to his neck and squeezed, cutting off the air supply to his lungs. He felt a prick on his neck once the hand lessened its’ grip. “Shh,” he heard in his ear as the world began to spin around him. He vaguely found the voice recognizable, but before he could pinpoint where he had heard the voice he lost consciousness.


	2. The Effect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith wakes up, and he isn't home.

As Keith faded in and out of consciousness he could hear talking, occasionally accompanied by screaming. He was never conscious long enough to process where he was, or who was screaming. At one point he heard someone say, “I don’t think he’s going to wake up,” which frightened Keith. Who were they talking about? Him? Why wasn’t he going to wake up?

Keith gasped as he sat upright, his eyes wide and panicked. The first thing he processed was that he wasn’t alone. The second thing was that he  _ wasn’t at home. _ He tried to think back to the last thing he remembered. It was late, he was walking home when he had been attacked. He looked around slowly, taking in his new surroundings. It seemed that he was in a glass cage. With an unknown number of cages next to his. They all seemed similar enough, and Keith didn’t find anything weird about the occupants, but he wasn’t looking closely. He felt the ground he was sitting on, and looked down at it. Dirt, rock, and a bit of concrete where his bed laid. It was more like a cot than a bed. Where was he? Why wasn’t he home? Was this some sort of twisted dream?

“Ah, rise and shine, sleeping beauty,” a voice said from behind him. Keith whipped around, and stared open mouthed at the person before him. He had black and white hair - the tuft on the front of his head was white, while the rest was black that was faded into a grade two or three, across the bridge of his nose was a pinkish scar, and it was obvious that he was very muscular if not buff. That wasn’t what Keith was staring open-mouthed at, though. He was staring at the rack of antlers that adorned his head. They were massive - a quick count told Keith that the man in front of him had a twenty-point set of antlers. “I’m Takashi Shirogane, please call me Shiro,” the man said kindly, beckoning him over. Keith stood slowly, and walked over. Once he was close enough, he saw that the antlers weren’t the only thing that was different about Shiro. A coat of fur covered his entire body, except for his right arm, which was metal - and his ears resembled deer ears more than human. “I - well, we - thought you weren’t going to wake up for a few hours there.”

Keith didn’t say anything for awhile, instead he stared openly at the person in front of him - would he even be considered a person anymore? He swallowed, realizing that Shiro had talked to him. “I, um, surprise?” He said, but it came out more like a question than a statement. 

“What’s your name? Do you remember it yet?” Shiro asked him, and Keith stood still for a moment. Did he remember his name?

“Keith Kogane,” Keith suddenly blurted out, the name foreign to his ears. Why couldn’t he remember if that was his name or not? He sat down, and felt the ground beneath his fingers. Dirt. He exhaled slowly, staring at the ground under him. Growling made him look up suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up.

“Ignore him, it’s just Lotor,” Shiro said, making the growls louder. “Nice to meet you, Keith. I’m sorry it’s here.”

“Where is ‘here’?” Keith asked, looking up at Shiro. 

Shiro smiled in pity, realizing this boy had no idea what was going to happen to him. “I don’t know. Some place far from the city, I can’t hear any cars.”

Keith swallowed thickly, and stared at his hands. They were shaking. What was going to happen to him here? He slowly turned to where the growling was originating from, and felt sweat drip down his back as he stared at his other neighboring cage. A man - Lotor - stood right at the glass wall on the other side of his cage, the one not neighboring Keith. He was staring at something, and to see it clearer, Keith approached the glass wall separating them. He stood, and spotted a girl that looked similar to Lotor, but older. Her hair was grey, skin was mocha, but it was pale. Too pale. Keith looked back to Lotor, and staggered back in surprise to see he had turned to Keith. He swallowed thickly, spotting the sharp teeth that were bared at him, growls escaping between his lips. Atop his head were ears that were pinned back, and Keith noticed claws that were protruding from his fingers. He saw that Lotor’s skin was purple, and there was a dog’s tail low to the ground behind him. 

Keith looked back to Lotor’s face, and changed his mind. Not a dog, a wolf. He turned to Shiro, horror written all over his face. What the fuck was going on here? Shiro gestured Keith closer so they could talk without shouting. “She calls herself ‘The Scientist’, and she calls us her Experiments, she comes down, takes us upstairs, and then does… horrible… things to us. She spliced my DNA with that of a deer, I’m not even - I don’t even know how it worked. DNA splicing shouldn’t work interspecies, yet here I am,” he gestures to his head where his antlers were. Keith stared in horror, and then looked around. “There’s four of us right now - most come and go… ‘go’ as in, they die. I’ve been in here the longest, three years. I don’t think she’s done with me, but I haven’t been taken upstairs in a long time.”

Keith went pale, he felt sick to his stomach. “Why?”

“If only I knew,” Shiro said, smiling at him sadly. “When she comes and gets you, don’t fight. It makes everything worse, trust me. I know,” he said, and the look that went over his face made Keith shiver. He had struggled, Keith knew.

A loud ‘beep’ sounded through the room, and Shiro went to sit on the cot that was in his cage. Keith followed in example, and his leg shook with nerves. The old woman walked down the middle of the two rows of glass cages, peering inside each one for a moment. When she came across Keith, she shrilled. “Oh goody! You did survive!” Her voice was different - high pitched, incessant, penetrating deep into Keith’s head. “I didn’t think you would,” she tapped the glass a few times, a toothy grin. Her teeth were sharp, making Keith suppress a shiver of fear. For a few heart-stopping moments, Keith thought she was going to open his door and take him out, but she continued on. She stopped at Lotor next, and laughed giddily, “Oh you’re coming along nicely, Wolfy,” the wolf hybrid growled at her, and backed further into his cage. She cackled more, and continued on. She looked down at the girl laying there, suddenly quiet.

Keith tried to see what she was seeing, but all he could make out was a heep on the ground. Keith leaned closer, and noticed her hair was turning white slowly. He swallowed thickly, was she dead? 

“Oh, no, no, no,” the scientist tutted sadly, shaking her head. “She will not make the transformation. I will have to get rid of her immediately, less we want Wolfy to get rabid,” she smiled wickedly at Lotor, who whined high in his throat. The scientist opened the door to the girls room, and suddenly Lotor was growling louder, and pounding at the glass. “Calm down,” the woman snapped, glaring at the wolf. She picked up the limp body, and began her way out. She was much stronger than she looked. Perhaps she experimented on herself, Keith wondered briefly. As she walked by, Keith got a closer look at the girl. Her resemblance to Lotor was more obvious now, their eyes were the same.

It was obvious she wasn’t dead yet, but she was getting there. She could barely move, and only moaned and groaned as she was carried. She reached for Lotor, who cried out and clawed at the walls. “Loka! Loka!” The wolf cried as the woman and Loka disappeared up the stairs. Once he could no longer see them, Lotor sat in the corner, wrapping his arms around himself as he rocked back and forth, muttering incoherent words to himself.

“That was his sister,” Shiro spoke quietly, gaining Keith’s attention. Keith turned to him, his eyes wide, face pale. “A few days ago she was taken upstairs, and she’d been knocked out for a few hours, and when she woke again, her eyes were holographic, and she cried a lot. Lotor had been going crazy since she went upstairs. They’re twins, you know. I think he could feel the pain she was going through. I think the Scientist did something so that happened.”

Keith frowned, and turned to Lotor, feeling pity rise up within him. His attention turned to another voice, “They’re her children, did you know,” it was a soft voice, quiet. You almost couldn’t hear it, and Keith probably wouldn’t have if a figure hadn’t come out of a shadow the exact moment that the voice appeared. Their hair was dark green - reminding him of foliage - little branches arched off their cheekbones, their eyes were bright orange too. They wore round glasses, and were very short.

“I’m right here,” Lotor growled, glaring at the others. He didn’t move from the corner he had backed himself into, but Keith still felt threatened. “But yes, the scientist is my mother. Call her Haggar - please. To not say her name, it makes me sick. Like the more fearful someone is to say her name, the more power she has.”

“Sorry,” the tree-person spoke, they lifted a hand, which had patches of bark with little branches growing out of it, to fix their glasses. “I’m Katie -” girl, then, “but I go by Pidge.” And then she collapsed onto the ground. Keith shot up and stood as close as he could to the wall closest to her cage - across the hall. 

“She’s okay,” Shiro told Keith, “the scien -  _ Haggar  _ \- gave her narcolepsy. I don’t know how, but apparently she had sleeping problems before she was kidnapped.”

Keith stared in horror, and sat back down in his cot. “What the hell,” was all he could say. It was all he could think, too. He looked around, and felt bile rising in his throat. He lifted a hand to his mouth as his face went green. He held back from throwing up, not knowing where it would be able to go once he had thrown up. He swallowed, and closed his eyes. What the hell was he going to do? He couldn’t escape. He couldn’t do anything but sit here and wait. Wait for what exactly? What would she do to him? He laid back on the cot and stared at the ceiling. The other two conscious people left him alone, knowing that he would need time to adjust. They all needed time to adjust. “How many has there been?” He asked, looking between Lotor and Shiro.

“Too many.” Shiro told him, smiling sadly. “Since I’ve been here there has been thirteen, but before me there could have been so many more.”

Keith nodded slowly, looking at Lotor to see if he would give his two cents. He was met with the wolf-hybrid rocking forward and back with his hands over his human ears, muttering something under his breath. “What’s he saying?” He asked Shiro, blinking slowly.

“I don’t want to know,” Shiro said softly, causing Keith to turn his head to him slowly. “I’ve heard a few words here and there - ‘kill’ ‘meat’ ‘red’ - but nothing else that was coherent. Sometimes I think he’s talking in a foreign language.”

“Why do you say that?” Keith asked, blinking slowly. He raised his hands to his face, and rubbed slowly.

“Because sometimes he shouts for a few seconds, and I never recognize the words.” Shiro explained softly, and Keith hummed in response, lowering his hands. “Get some rest. We never know when she’s coming, best to be well rested.”

Keith nodded and rolled over onto his stomach. He didn’t fall asleep for awhile - not until long after Lotor’s breathing had slowed as he fell asleep; not until Keith couldn’t keep his eyes open, and even then it was awhile before he truly fell asleep, dreaming of the night he was taken.


End file.
